Adjuvant Treatment of Node-Positive Breast Cancer with Adriamycin-Cyclophosphamide with or Without Radiation Therapy: Interim Results of an Ongoing Clinical Trial

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Abstract
During 1974–1980,138 women with node-positive stage II breast cancer were treated with either eight courses of adriamycin-cyclophosphamide (AC) chemotherapy (82 patients) or AC chemotherapy plus comprehensive regional radiotherapy (56 patients). The overall relapse-free survival of the treated patients was significantly superior (P < 0.001) to a comparable group of women who underwent surgery alone. This effect of adjuvant therapy was clearly manifest in all groups of patients irrespective of nodal involvement or menopausal status. To date, relapse-free survival for patients receiving AC compared to AC plus radiotherapy is not different (P = 0.7). In summary, we have demonstrated that a brief 6-month course of adjuvant chemotherapy with AC can significantly reduce the recurrence rate in women with stage II breast cancer.